After the controversial scrapping of HMS Ocean (top), the Commons Defence Committee has warned the UK Ministry of Defence that retiring its two other amphibious ships, and cutting 2,000 Royal Marines, will end an important military capability. (RN photo)

The United Kingdom will lose its ability to conduct specialised amphibious operations, if leaked plans considered in the National Security Capability Review (NSCR) are not cancelled by the new Modernising Defence Programme (MDP), according to the Commons Defence Committee.

In its Report, 'Sunset for the Royal Marines?', published today, the Committee warns that further reductions in the Royal Marines and the disposal of the amphibious ships HMS Albion, and HMS Bulwark, would be “militarily illiterate” and “totally at odds with strategic reality”.

The NSCR, has been carried out by the National Security Adviser rather than by the Ministry of Defence. It has led to persistent rumours of major cuts in conventional forces. Up to 2,000 Royal Marines – about 30% of current strength – would be lost, together with the two amphibious assault ships which are essential for landing personnel, heavy equipment and supplies over a beach.

News of such options being considered has met with fierce opposition within Parliament and widespread public concern. The review process has been conducted behind closed doors, without significant input from academics, think-tanks and individual experts. Any discussion of the options being considered has been dismissed as ‘speculation’ by the Government, which has not yet agreed to allow the National Security Adviser to face the Defence Committee for detailed questioning. Parliament has, in short, been prevented both from influencing or scrutinising major potential reductions in the UK’s defence capabilities.

The Report sets out the series of challenges faced by the Royal Marines in recent years. Since 2011, numbers have declined from 7,020 to 6,580; training and exercises have been cancelled; and surveys have shown a tangible drop in morale. The disproportionate contributions made by the Royal Marines to UK Defence – not least in providing up to half of all UK Special Forces personnel – are being put at risk by inadequate funding.

The Report also rigorously examines the role of HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. It concludes that their disposal would remove any prospect of the Armed Forces achieving a successful amphibious landing with a substantial force. Ships which have been touted as alternative platforms – including the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers – are no substitute for such specialised vessels as HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. Their loss would also have a considerable impact upon the local communities where they are currently based.

Global trends, such as the growing urbanisation of littoral areas, point to the continuing need for amphibious operations in the future. The Committee’s findings establish that every other major defence power is seeking to increase its amphibious capabilities at the very time that the UK may be forced prematurely to abandon them.
Chair's comments

Dr Julian Lewis, Defence Committee chairman, said: "In January, we were told that the Albion and Bulwark were not due to leave service until 2033 and 2034 respectively. That such irreplaceable ships are in line for deletion fifteen years early demonstrates, yet again, the desperate inadequacy of the Defence budget. We must reinstate a target of around 3 per cent of GDP – the percentage which we spent right up to the mid-1990s, long after the ‘peace dividend’ cuts, at the end of the Cold War, had been made.

"Gavin Williamson deserves credit for seizing back control of the Defence dimension of the NSCR process; but, ultimately, he will fail without extra funding from the Treasury. Unless he secures this, the Royal Marines will be reduced to a level far below the critical mass needed to sustain them as a high-readiness Commando force.

"Nor can there be any substitute for the Albion-class vessels: the Committee is adamant that no other ships can be used as alternatives without assuming an unreasonable level of operational risk.

"In initiating the Modernising Defence Programme, the Ministry of Defence now has an opportunity to take a different approach – and to open up these drastic and dangerous proposals to proper Parliamentary scrutiny."

Click here for the full report (56 PDF pages) on the UK Parliament website.